Bonds
by Inukisama
Summary: Dying does not always mean you disappear. Mahad knows it pretty well. Now the Dark Magician, he wanders through the Shadow Realm and makes sure things remain as they are. Until he comes across an old enemy that might become more than this. No pairings at the moment. Little ficlet written for Mahad month challenge. Rated M for swearing
1. Chapter 1

**Heya!**

 **Here is a little ficlet written for Mahad month challenge, which you can find here: post/164791772077/le-mois-de-mahad (sorry, this is written in French, but in short, our tumblr group challenges writers with a different Yu-Gi-Oh! character each month, and September is dedicated to grumpy Priest Mahad!)**

 **I hope you'll enjoy it! It's quite short, but ideas are being thrown at my face for a sequel, so if you like it there might be additional chapters later on.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh nor its characters. I found the cover picture on Pinterest. I anyone knows the artist, please do tell me, so that I can credit them for their work.**

 **I only own the plot and nonsense that ensues.**

 **NB: Just to be clear, Seth = Priest Seto**

* * *

 **Bonds**

The Shadow Realm was an endless pit of eternal sufferings. Humans' darkest secrets, the most violent emotions, the harshest pains known to any living being, were condensed and nurtured into a magma of blackness and lurking monsters. The poor souls condemned to stray in there were unlikely to return, unless they were rescued in an hour of time. After that, they often ended shredded to pieces and every single drop of delectable misery taken from them was devoured. Only a madman could venture in there.

A madman, or a very skilled mage. One powerful enough to keep the shadows at a distance, to make them fear you, enough to leave you alone. There were a few who survived without _heku_ , the sacred knowledge of magic. Mahad had met some of them, like Jonouchi Katsuya and Hiroto Honda, whose power of will was so strong they resisted the taunts of the Shadow Realm, but they were exceptions.

Other than them, he had seen many, many others get engulfed, without being able to help them. He could not save everyone. Not everyone deserved to be saved. The Shadow Realm was, after all, a place for the tainted to be punished. It had a purpose, albeit extreme, and the high priest accepted it as that.

Most dissolved into oblivion, a few survived long enough to get out in time. Some others, like him and his fellows priests, could travel in, although it never left anyone unscathed. Mahad had done it many times, in fact, but he was kind of a special case. Being the former bearer of the Millenium Ring, and now that he had fused his _ba_ with his _ka_ , thus becoming the Dark Magician, he used the shadows to do his bidding, more than he avoided or repel them. His power was deeply linked to them.

He was a special case, but not the only one. There were those who could bend the darkness, but used it for motives that were not as benevolent as his.

Speaking of which...

The high priest swirled around and pointed his scepter threateningly in front of him. Its end instantly crackled with dark magic, and the shadows around him hummed with unease, sensing the sheer power of it. But its target stayed unfazed.

"Show yourself, thief," he demanded sternly, "before I make you."

A flash or glowing red and a growl were his own answer. For someone so prone to bragging, this was a change. Mahad gritted his teeth and advanced towards the hidden figure determinedly. His scepter eventually lit a fraction of a reptilian black head, with razor sharp fangs and blood red eyes. The dragon blew a strong puff of air through its snout at the magician.

"That's all you've got?," he deadpanned. "You're so weak as to associate with a _ka._ Where is your precious Diabound? Where is your beloved master?"

At the mention of a master, the beast growled angrily, smoke and sparks coming from his maw. The high priest snorted.

"Right. You have no master. Pardon me if I believe otherwise, but you sent antagonistic signals on the matter. You looked so eager to please Zorc, that I might have thought you were submitted to-"

The creature roared and shot a blazing ray of fire at him, but Mahad was unimpressed. _So predictable._ He blocked the searing flames with ease, too powerful for the weakened dragon to reach him this way.

"We both know you cannot hurt me, in your state. But if you so wish, I can get back at you for the time when you killed me. I've learned one or two imaginative ways for that."

The other huffed. Eventually, he went back a little, and darkness swirled around him. When he appeared again in the halo of the scepter, there was not a dragon anymore, but a man with tanned skin, dirty gray hair, violet eyes, a four-stitched scar on his right cheek, and a flowing red robe on his shoulders. The bandit king was identical to when he sold his soul to Zorc, and yet seriously undermined. He was limping, albeit discreetly, and he was clutching his side with an arm as he slowly advanced towards Mahad. The high priest hummed.

"How you manage to still be alive is something I'll never understand. Some luck you have, thief king. Or maybe you're cursed to live and suffer."

"I didn't know you were into mockery. I'm hurt. My poor heart will never get over it."

Maybe it was the complete nonsense of the situation, or maybe it was the influence of the Shadow Realm for so long. Either way, the Dark Magician could not help the laughter that bubbled in his chest and burst resoundingly in the empty space around them. Bakura, however, was not so amused, and his smirk fell lightly.

"Yeah, yeah, I have no heart, yadda yadda. Same old song."

"Don't say you don't deserve it," Mahad countered, a small smile still playing at his lips, "though I have to say I'm curious about your choice of _ka_. Why the Red-Eyes?"

The Thief King grunted, his side still throbbing. He took some time to answer.

"T'was not really my choice. It was the first I could reach, before the shadows got a hold of me. It's powerful enough, and its power stems from darkness. All in all, I'm lucky t'was it, and not that blasted Blue-Eyes bitch."

The mage snorted at him.

"I'm sure. She would have roasted you. But you must realize that committing your _ba_ with a monster spirit is dangerous? You may never part from it ever again."

Bakura did not have a reply to that. Frankly, he could not care less at the moment. Not when his survival was at stake. Pain pulsated in his body, and he tried his best to hide it to his archnemesis. That bloody priest was a thorn in his foot, even more so now that he had not the Millenium Ring anymore. His faithful Diabound evaded him, and all he could do was turning back into the black dragon should he need to think of a quick escape. It depended on what the Dark Magician wanted with him.

Said Magician hummed when he noticed the slightest twinge of pain twist his opponent's features, and he advanced slowly. The thief growled and backed away into the cloak of shadows, but he was not impressed nor stopped. He leaped forward, surprising the other, and placed two joined fingers on his sticky red side. His magic surged in dark waves, and the open wound resorbed. Hieroglyphs sparkled on the heated bronze skin, leaving trails of _heka_ along the knitted scar.

Bakura smacked his hand away and snarled, his body now tingling with an unknown spell. Mahad simply took a few steps back, observing the other's angry face turn into a stunned expression. He arched a brow and smirked.

"Better?"

"What did you do to me, you-"

"What, don't I get to be thanked?" He feigned to be hurt, but his tone was sarcastic. "Frankly, you fully deserve to be in pain. But it appears you'll be way more useful healed and about. As much as it pains me to say it."

The Thief King held his head high up and glared.

"As if you could _use_ me," he spat, "no one tells me what to do. Especially not one of the Pharaoh's minions."

Mahad smirked wider, puzzling Bakura. Clearly, the mage had a trump down his sleeve.

"Trust me, I prefer being a slave to Seth's relentless sex drive, than ordering you around. I won't. But your new master will."

As if on cue, a ripple agitated the shadows, and Bakura's body began to glow as the pull of summoning began to stir the _ka_ he had fused with. Realization hit him.

"Oh, no, you didn't, you rat."

The Dark Magician waved at him, a sufficient smile tugging at his lips and threatening to split his face in half.

"Don't thank me, thief. After all, you initiated the process. I only gave the fusion a little push, so that it could be definite. Enjoy your life as the proud Red-Eyes of my master's best friend. I'll see you around."

A roar answered his cheeky retort, and the black dragon disappeared in a swirl of darkness as it was summoned on Jonouchi Katsuya's side of the field. The young blonde man apparently had a duel going against Mutou Yuugi, and Mahad was sure he would be called on the field soon after the dragon.

He could not wait to see Bakura's face when he came out and atomized him with a burst of his signature Dark Magic Attack. Sweet revenge.


	2. Chapter 2

The Thief King was not amused. When he appeared on the field, roaring in outrage, he wished he could have turned the world into ashes and stomped on it.

As a whole, he presently cursed everyone and anyone around him. Jonouchi Katsuya, for summoning this stupid Red-Eyes, which just wanted to please its master and with which he was bound for Ra knew how long. Mutou Yugi, for summoning the Dark Magician who was taunting him with a smirk plastered on his face. Said Dark Magician, for even existing still and not leaving him alone when he should have. The gods, for making him submit in this stupid form to a stupid blonde against a stupid kid and his stupid servant.

Damn them all.

Only now, did he finally get what the former bearer of the Ring had told him. As his _ba_ , to his utter dismay, connected and blended with the _ka_ , rendering the fusion complete and nearly unbreakable, Bakura began to feel emotions that were not his. For example, the strongest he felt at the moment was protectiveness, towards the duelist he was currently fighting for. Pah. He did not need fighting for him, and yet here he was, forced to do something he would never have done under normal circumstances.

He was also feeling a sickening sense of affection for the fierce blonde. Jonouchi, was it? Bakura hardly remembered him, except that he was the one to send him to the Shadow Realm for the first time. It had been fun to see fear twist his features. But now, he was feeling _affectionate_ and _tender_. He wanted to puke at the thought. That dragon may not be the best choice of _ka_ , after all. Maybe it would have been better to risk raising the ire of the Blue-Eyes wench.

The Yugi pipsqueak pointed at him and interrupted his strings of curses, launching the Priest at him for a deadly attack.

"Dark Magician, attack Jonouchi's Red-Eyes! Dark Magic Attack!"

A glint of revenge lit up Mahad's eyes, infuriating the Thief King, before a crackling ball of dark magic hit him full force and vaporized him back into the Shadow Realm.

He landed in a heap on the intangible floor, groaning in pain. That fucking mage knew how to strike efficiently. If only he was not so weak!

After a moment, during which Bakura debated on whether he wanted to stand up and face the shadows lurking around him, a blinding light engulfed him and snapped him back to full awareness. He raised his head in alarm.

 _Oh, no, he's not-_

He warped back on the field, screeching in disapproval as he was resurrected by one of Jonouchi's combos. The blonde looked proud of himself, and the pipsqueak's face contorted in awe and worry. What for?

"And now dat me best friend's back on my side of the field, I'll engage battle!"

Battle? Against the Magician? Bakura wished his draconic face could scoff. As far as he was aware, he lacked a hundred attack points to threaten the other monster.

"But before I do dat," his 'master' – fucking kid with no brain – exclaimed, "I'll buff him up a bit, so dat he can flatten your Dark Magician. I activate Tyrant Wings!"

He put a spell card on one of the slots, next to a face-down card, and Bakura felt his attack points rise. He felt more powerful and huffed. Better.

Yugi's lips twitched.

"I'm sorry, Jonouchi, but you won't be able to keep this card. I activate my quick spell card!"

A tornado suddenly blew the trap card on Jonouchi's side away, and the dragon's points came back to normal. Bakura wondered if he could eat the kid alive before he ordered the Dark Magician to attack. However, the blonde chuckled and rubbed under his nose.

"Nice one, Yugi. Dat's why I have a back-up card. I activate de Skull Dice!"

A little devil appeared on the field, clutching a dice and giggling. He tossed it on the ground, and the dice rolled to the feet of the Magician. Two dots could be seen at the top.

"Aaaaaand dat makes two-hundred attack points! Now my dragon can 'ave de upper hand! Or paw? Anyway, Red-Eyes!"

Bakura was so busy staring at the dice, which glowed and made his enemy's points go down to 2300, that he almost did not hear the blonde call for him. He understood it was his cue to move his ass, if only to avoid the shining honey eyes fixated on him with pride and childish excitement.

He stood to his full draconic height, wings flapping lazily and opening wide to intimidate the short boy and his mage. If Mahad remained unfazed, the pipsqueak showed a satisfying gulp. Bakura wished he could smirk in this form.

He let out his strongest roar, and felt fire come up his belly to his throat, filling his mouth with scorching heat and death. The Priest frowned and sighed.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon attacks! Kokuen-Dan!"

The dragon let out his fury out and flames swallowed the form of the mage, before he exploded in a cloud of pixels and vanished. Bakura felt good for the first since he had fused with the _ka_. He doubted the Dark Magician would be gone for long, however. Yugi never let his favorite monster out for more than a few turns. But oh, how it felt empowering to burn him.

Jonouchi congratulated him and beamed at him, and his head felt suddenly light as satisfaction overwhelmed him. He was happy to see his 'master' pleased. He, the mighty Thief King, felt joy at the thought that he made his 'master' happy with him.

He had endured years of loneliness, poverty, theft, humiliation and hatred, to be reduced to this. He had trespassed the tomb of the blasted Pharaoh's father, stolen his mummy, killed the bearer of the Millenium Ring, and brought an evil dark god back to life, sacrificing his body and soul in the process, to become _this_ : a pet dragon for a pet blonde friend of the Pharaoh's protegee.

Pathetic.

Yet, when said blonde beamed like that to him, he could not resent him for long. The _ka_ he had fused with was powerful enough to impose some of its feelings to him. So, here he was, having affection for him.

He refused to acknowledge that the former yankee, for all his stupidity, had lived hardships Bakura could relate to. That would mean he could feel _close_ to his dumb summoner.

He could not afford proximity to someone. But he could not help longing for the blonde's joy again.

And that, he was sure, was what the damn Priest expected.


End file.
